December 2, 2008 7:36:39 PM CST
(Newser) – The way media and the state reacted to Gustav wasn't responsible behavior, but rather "responsibility avoidance ... motivated by a desire to avoid blame," Frank Furedi writes in Spiked. He says official overreaction diminishes a sense of community and individual resilience, rendering people passive to the whims of politicians who tell them, “You need to be scared,” and “Get your butts moving out of New Orleans right now.”
Louisianans “will discover that their lives have been disrupted far more by the official response to the storm" than by Gustav itself, Furedi says. He wishes natural disasters could be treated as natural, instead of proof for experts of their “existential threat” of climate change, whom he compares to medieval seers who interpreted the meanings of storms.
Source Spiked
Sep 23, 08 4:05 PM CDT Texas officials told Congress today they might need up to $40 billion in aid to rebuild the state's hurricane-hit areas, the Houston Chronicle reports. The state's lieutenant governor sought at least $11.5 billion of aid and as many trailer homes as available to help the 770 communities damaged by Hurricane Ike. Houston's mayor requested an immediate $2.5 billion injection to help his metropolis. More »
Sep 7, 08 4:06 PM CDT New Orleans residents may be celebrating Hurricane Gustav's near-miss this week, but that's no reason to get complacent, the New York Times reports. Officials admit that protective infrastructure still isn’t up to par, and there were several close calls when Gustav made landfall. “I want everybody to understand—we’re not there yet,” an Army Corps of Engineers colonel said. More »
Sep 4, 08 3:21 PM CDT As the thousands who rode out Hurricane Gustav in New Orleans boast about the hardy, and sometimes boozy, camaraderie to neighbors who paid in frustration for following evacuation orders, authorities are hoping those tales won’t keep residents from heeding warnings next time around, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “Some of those people will definitely say, ‘I'm not going to make that mistake again of leaving,’” one official said. More »
Sep 3, 08 6:25 PM CDT All Hurricane Gustav evacuees are being allowed back into New Orleans after Mayor Ray Nagin abandoned a more drawn-out reentry plan, the Washington Post reports. Those returning had trouble locating supplies, and officials warned power outages would add to difficulties. "We'd like to say welcome back, but it's not the way we'd like to do it," one local official said. More »
Sep 3, 08 12:59 PM CDT President Bush flew over flooded fields and downed trees today as he kept a close watch on the Hurricane Gustav recovery —in contrast to his administration's bungled response to Katrina 3 years ago. Aboard Air Force One, Bush received a briefing from FEMA director R. David Paulison, who said he believes the federal response to Gustav went "extremely well," but warned residents against returning to their homes before city services are up and running. More »
Any hurricane that heads for Louisiana is likely to be treated as yet another ‘storm of the century.' - Frank Furedi, author of Invitation to Terror: The Expanding Empire of the Unknown
New Orleans • Louisiana • disaster • Hurricane Gustav • Ray Nagin
